Impact of Culture on Health Essay Example for Free

Impact of Culture on Health Essay * What do we mean by culture?   * Culture is one of those concepts that most people seem to intuitively grasp, yet cannot define clearly. * The process of categorizing groups of people as others (other than one’s own group) is a common feature of the way human beings think, and it forms a part of the whole phenomenon we think of as culture. * There other uses of the term culture that can confuse the situation – for example, saying someone is more cultured than the other, referring to some concept of high/elite culture, expressed through personal manners, education and knowledge, involvement in or familiarity with artistic activities such as opera, modern art, calligraphy, dance or theater – that is contrasted to pop culture. * Definitions they share the basic components, existing as a kind of whole and links many kinds of aspects of life and social structure within a group or society; it refers to the relationship between what people know and believe and what they do; it is acquired and shared, more or less, among members of the group or society and transmitted to members of the group/society over time. * The Classic Definition: Cultures is said to be that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (E.B Taylor, 1871) * The Symbolic Definition: Human culture is a kind of symbolic text, in which behavior, objects, and belief interact together in a kind of ongoing dramatic production that represents issues and concepts of meaning fr a particular society * Members act as characters in this grand drama and what goes on (plot) only makes sense in reference to an underlying interpretive framework. * Culture as an Ideology: Equate the concept of culture to a kind of dominant ideology or to beliefs, social institutions, practices, and media representation associated with particular configurations of power. * Discourse at any point is linked with a configuration of power and the rules for interpreting what is or is not a valid statement. * Culture Materialist Definitions. Viewing culture primarily as a system of belief, practice, and technology directly tied to economic activity or to the adaptation of a people to a particular physical environment. * Linguistic Definition: thinking of a culture as a type of language. Speakers of the language may use differently, to create slang, irony, humor, or even poetry OR they make break the rules to create a particular effect. BUT it is still the same language and underneath the language is some shared base of understanding about the nature of existence and day-to-day life. * Mental or Cognitive Definitions: Construct of culture as something primarily in the mind of people within a particular group, a kind of shared conceptual framework that organizes thought and behavior. From this perspective, culture is not so much about what people do, but abo ut what they think and how that determines what they do. * Culture and Biocultural: Think of culture in relation to the human condition is to understand humans as biocultural. It is something that is imposed on the biological world by a society or group of people who have, over many years, developed a system of beliefs and practices. * How can we define the people who share a particular culture? * Is it a political definition? (most cases no) Is it a geographic boundary? A social boundary? Is it religion? * Culture is not fixed but evolves as people from one society or group come into contact with other people or as they change over time, their culture changes. * What do we mean by health? * Free of disease – absence of pathogens and healthy immune system * Body functions normally – organs, nervous and other systems function as they should * Free of injury and other problems * Eats healthy foods – food that provides essential nutrients and is free of substances that cause damage to bodily functions. * Engage in healthy, preventive behavior – basic hygiene, immunizations, sees a doctor * Avoids risky behavior * To be in reasonable physical shape. * To be in a stable mental state to be happy, satisfied with life, get along with people * General well being * In some parts of the world, criteria defined by other cultures can interfere with biomedical standards. * To obese can be a sign of wealth or in the case of females, fertility, maternal capability and warm personality. * Rites that often involve what we might call â€Å"health risks† yet they are understood to be good and absolutely necessary to proceed to the next life stage. * To understand diverse concepts of health and healthy behavior, it is necessary to think of health in a broader way, beyond biomedical. * Health is often very close to ideas within that culture about being well. Chapter 3: Ethnomedicine I: Cultural Health Systems of Related Knowledge and Practice. * An ethnomedical system can be defined as: an applied cultural knowledge system related to health that sets out the kinds of health problems that can exist, their causes and (based on their causes) appropriate treatments – as an interrelated system of belief and nature. * It is of key importance when thinking about the cultural aspect of ethnomedical system is that across cultures there are different answers to all of these questions, from the range of potential health problems, to causes, to treatments, as well as the closely related question of what kinds of individuals are qualified to provide treatment * Human beings are biocultural some theorists have found it useful to make a distinction between disease (abnormal biomedical state caused by pathogens or physical anomalies) and an illness (a culturally defined state of not being well, with many culturally defined causes including biomedical). * Disease and illness may or may not refer to the same phenomenon. * Functionally, both systems have the same kinds of elements and in both cases there is a linkage between the elements. The differences have to do with the specific content, and the means by which cause is determined (with respect to cause in the biomedical case, that includes both research and clinical diagnosis.) * Where the biomedical system categorizes unwell states based on physical symptoms linked to biological causes, the nonbiomedical system may have its classification on combinations of emotional and physical manifestations links to the spiritual causes, disruption in harmony, imbalance in a person’s lifestyle or an improper mix of substances and forces. * Personalistic system – disease is due to the â€Å"active, purposeful intervention of an agent† where the ill person is the object of action by a sorcerer, spirit or supernatural force. * The general pattern of treatment is to block/counter the spiritual agent with spiritual forces in support of the patient. The center of action (in terms of cause or treatment) is not necessarily within the patient, but in the supernatural world. * Naturalistic system – disease is explained by the impersonal actions of systems based on old historical systems of great civilizations. Illness arise when people are out of balance physically, spiritually, or in some other way. * The pattern of treatment is to restore balance through various combinations of herbal medicinal, meditation, diet, lifestyle changes, or other actions. * A very important principle to remember is that a given social or cultural group will rarely operate in reference to a single ethnomedical system. The norm for most people is multiple and coexisting ethnomedical systems of some blending of elements from various types of systems. One system may be dominant, but aspects of other systems are also likely to be included. * The Placebo Effect and Role of Belief – placebo effect the tendency for treatments and pills to have no biochemical or biomedical effect to cause improvement in patient health symptoms. This occurs because of the belief that the treatment or pill has curative properties or because of the ritual process of going to a doctor itself. * Ethnomedical Systems: Non-Western Examples * Ayurvedic Medicine (India) * Originates with ancient Vedic culture in India and focues on prevention and a holistic concept of health accomplished through the maitenence of balance in many areas of life, including thought, diet, lifestyle and the use of herbs. * Body is comprised of 3 primary energy types called dosha each represents characteristics derived from the 5 elements of space, air, fire, water and earth. * Vata subtle energy associated with movement * Pittaconnected to the body’s metabolic system * Kapha associated with body structure * Cambodian/Khmer Health Belief Systems * The traditional system shares some aspects in common with Chinese and other Asian systems in the emphasis on balance. Illness may be attributed to imbalance in natural forces. This is often symbolized or expressed as the influence of wind or kchall on blood circulation illness * South African Health Belief Systems * Among the Shona and other peoples, one aspect of a naturalistic system is understood to be related to the presence of a nyoka or snake in the body. Movement of the nyoka is related to many diseases, including diarrhea, stomach ailments, sexually transmitted infections, epilepsy, mental retardation and others. * Health Belief Systems in Latin America and the Carribbean * Espiritismo common in Cuba and Puerto Rice, synthesis of Afro-Caribbean, French, and possibly U.S. spiritualist. The belief system is that there is both a supreme being and a world of spirits with influence on health that can be accessed through a medium, typically in a group sà ©ance-like setting. * Santeria also found in Cuba and Puerto Rico, blend of West African and Catholic traditions. It is based on the idea that there are many spirits called â€Å"orishas† who are connected to the supreme being and who can be appealed to help in various dimensions of life. * Curanderismo founded in many parts of central/latin America; a healer or curandero makes a diagnosis using tarot-type cards or by sweeping a broken egg or other object across the body of the patient. The idea is that there is a supremem/higher power that is the source of energy, and the curandero is the instrument of that higher power. * Western Example – the biomedical system is primarily based on a classification system tied to biological phenomena – the action of pathogens (viruses, bacteria), cellular or other biomechanical malfunctions, injuries/system damage, and others. Treatment is, of course, directly connected to generalists or specialists trained to address specific kinds of biomedical phenomena. Chapter 4: Ethnomedicine II: Cultural Systems of Psychology and Mental/Emotional Health The Cultural Construction of Mental/Emotional Illness * Anything defined as an abnormal mental/emotional state is also likely to involve a cultural judgement and therefore may say a lot about cultural values and beliefs as a whole at particular moments in history * Ex. drapetomania – the disease causing negros to run away. It was thought to be a curable disease of the mind, involving sulkiness and dissatisfaction prior to running away, that could be brought on when white slave owners trated slaves too much like human beings, or on the other hand when they were overly cruel and brutal. * Ex. dysaethesia aethiopica – characterized by a state of half-sleep and a physical or nervous insensibility that caused them to behave like â€Å"rascals† * DSM – reference book for mental conditions that are viewed in Western/biomedicine as abnormal, with detailed descriptions of the etiology, symptoms and treatment for each condition. While it is based on scientific/clinical research, the symptoms and descriptions for many c onditions offer a fascinating glimpse of the way in which such conditions can be shaped by cultural expectations and changes in such expectations. * Ex. Antisocial Personality Disorder the symptoms seem to outline a kind of personality that could be viewed as troublesome if not criminal but the picture changes when context and culture are added. * Ex. ADHD according to the DSM IV, this disorder is characterized by two sets of symptoms – inattention and hyperactivity impulsivity. This is a condition that can cause difficulties and impairs appropriate functioning. But there is room for interpretation. Some elements of hyperactivity and are subjective and depend on culturally related standards for appropriate behavior. The Question of Universal vs. Culture-Specific * Do all humans beings experience the same mental health phenomena or emotional phenomena? * The universalist position would argue that human beings have essentially the same psychological makeup – a position often referred to as â€Å"psychic unity† * The cultural relativist perspective cultures entail unique patterns of thought and behavior. * Combination of both perspectives cultures shape how emotions and mental experiences are constructed, named, and given meaning, and the living patters of specific cultures tend to accentuate particular stressors that may result in mental health issues. * There do appear to be some mental health conditions that occur in some form across cultures, and so could be seen as universal conditions (ex. depression). * Mental conditions that appear unique to one or a few cultural groups can be thought of in 2 ways * culture bound syndromes defined as any form of disturbed behavior that is specific to a certain cultural system and does not conform to western classification of diseases * Many of these patterns are considered to be â€Å"illnesses† and have local names. * Problems with culture-bound syndromes: no suggested steps for how a provider should incorporate cultural factors into the diagnosis or learn what those factors are; overlap between some conditions across cultures; the process of selecting the culture bound system is unclear * Conditions that are prompted by specific patterns of social stress and/or ecological contexts * Ex. In the Saora tribe in India there is a peculiar condition among young men and women who cry and laugh at inappropriate times, experience memory loss and feel like they are being bitten by ants. These young people are considered misfits and are not interested inpursuing the traditional subsistence of farming life. For this, they are under considerable stress due to social pressure from relatives and friends. To solve this problem, a marriage ceremony is carried out in which the disturbed person is married to the spirit. Young person becomes a shaman. * Anorexia/Bulimia in the United States * Fear of weight gain and distorted view of one’s body. This causes people to restrict their eating or binge eat/purge. One of the key contributing factors is the combination of weigh gain during puberty set against perceived social pressure to conform to culturally specific ideals of beauty * Historical Trauma * American Indian/Alaska Native populations have long experienced a range of disparities in health. These peoples suffer from a collective, psychological scar resulting from the experience of violence, culture loss, land loss, discrimination and eventual marginalization that resulted from European colonialism and conquest in the Americas. * Immigrant/Refugee Mental Health Syndromes * Many immigrants and refugee populations coming to the United States and other host countries from civil disasters and other traumatic situations experiences psychological consequences in addition to the stress of acculturation itself. * Emotions and Culture * Lutz and the Ifaluk found that emotions are culturally constructed. Emotions are a daily working phenomenon. Chapter 5: The Moral Dimension: The Relationship of Etiology to Morality in Cultural Beliefs and Practices Related to Health * Cross Cultural etiologies of illness can range from those that seem neutral, like pathogens or genetics, to those that don’t like sorcery or family disharmony * In other words, there appear to be some causes for which no judgment can be made or blame assigned, and some that can be blamed on somebody or something, whether the person who is ill, or another person, or another social institution or group. Culture, as reflected in ethnomedical systems, involves socially produced definitions of what is normal vs. not normal. * When a person experiences some abnormal phenomenon (illness) it could be thought of as: * Abnormal but morally ok not your fault * Abnormal but not morally ok your fault or somebody’s fault. Can result from stigma. * The moral connection to illness is very much related to several kinds of factors: * Cultural conceptions of the individual and the degree to which individuals are viewed as responsible for their condition and their behavior * Most western societies are typically viewed as individual-centric * The degree to which external forces are viewed as responsible for their condition and their behavior * In many cultures, what you do and what happens to you may not originate with you but with other forces. These forces could be attributed to one or more gods, to broader natural forces, to specific spirits, or to sorcery ad witchcraft. The moral source, so to speak, may in part be related to individuals but indirectly. * The kinds of social divisions that exist in a particular society and what those social divisions are held to mean – social class/social stratification, gender, race/ethnicity, religion and other divisions. * Refers to a moral source that is society itself the way in which society creates conditions that make some peole more vulnerable to disease than others or that forces some people into choices (with health consequences) that others do not have to make. * Physical Symbolism of the Disease * If the appearance of the disease looks like the embodiment of a culturally defined malevolence of some kind, people may react to it regardless of whether or not the victim is initially held to be at fault. Alternatively, the appearance of the disease may be seem like evidence that the person must be at fault or is some way selected for punshement, triggereing a kind of after-the-fact blame. * All of these can lead to the stigmatization of people with a particular illness or disease. * Stigma: the discrediting, social rejection or staining of types of people who are viewed as blameworthy in one way or another. It is the social construction of spoiled identity for classes of people viewed as undesirable by some social standard. The exclusion and abuse caused by stigma may even be sanctioned by law. * Illness Behavior * Two kinds of sick roles:   * A set of roles for people who are ill * A set of roles for the other people who interact with the sick person, whether as a healer or family member or even a classmate. * Illness behavior is produced or socially constructed within the framework of a culture. It involves an entire production, in which many players act out their roles and in doing so, work together to produce a result that comes out as the way of a particular illness takes form, and the consequences of that, in a given society. An important result of this and other culturally shaped interactions is to reproduce the culture.

Susan Glaspells Trifles - The Loyalty of Mrs. Hale :: Trifles Essays

The Loyalty of Mrs. Hale in Trifles The major idea I want to write about has to do with the way Mrs. Hale stands behind Mrs. Wright even though it seems like everyone else especially (the men) would rather lock her up and throw away the key. We see this right away when she gets on the County Attorney for putting down Mrs. Wright’s house keeping. I find this to be wonderfully symbolic in that most women of this time usually allowed the men to say whatever they wanted about their sex, never standing up for themselves or each other You notice this to be so because Mrs. Peters is struggling against what she is hearing the men say versus what she feels herself. When Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters that she would hate for the men to be in her kitchen snooping around and criticizing, Mrs. Peters responds by saying "Of course it’s no more than their duty". This reflects to me a lady who has been so brain washed by the manly view of her time that she can’t even see the simple feelings that women feel for and between each other. We then come to the part where the ladies are talking about Mrs. Peter’s interactions with the other women in town. Mrs. Hale said she was not part of the Ladies’ Aid (which seemed like the thing for the women to do in that town), she dressed shabbily which she never did before becoming Mr. Wright’s wife. Mrs. Hale also clearly states that she does not believe that Mrs. Wright killed her husband whereas Mrs. Peters is struggling with this, saying that the Attorney thinks it looks bad because she did not wake up when her husband was being killed in bed right beside her. Mrs. Hale takes the view I would by saying don’t blame her because obviously he didn’t wake up either or maybe he would be alive or at least maybe he could have awakened her in his struggle. Another symbolic part of the play is when the men overhear the women talking about Mrs. Wright’s quilt, wondering if she was going to quilt it or knot it, and they laugh at them. Mrs. Hale is immediately offended by the way they laughed at them where Mrs. Peters is apologizing for them because "they have a lot on their minds".

Healthcare in the United States Essay

Health care around the world is very different. The United States is a pluralistic, privately owned system. They are technology driven, and an insurance based type of health care. They have issues with the cost rising versus the people receiving benefits. Germany, Canada, and Great Britain all use a universal type of health care where they believe all citizens should have moderate access to treatments. Germany uses Socialized Health Insurance. Canada uses National Health Insurance that is divided among its provinces and territories. Finally, Great Britain uses Socialized Health Insurance. Key Words: Health care, United States, Germany, Great Britain, Canada. The United States of America is based upon principles set forth by our founding fathers. â€Å"We the people by the people† is one of the principles that we still live by today. This is a value that we implement in all sects of government, including health care. The United States has a health care system that is mostly pri vately owned. The government usually steps in when needed. Such cases involve money for vulnerable populations, fundraising, and training individuals in the healthcare field. There are many characteristics of our healthcare system that are vastly different than other countries such as: Germany, Canada, and Great Britain. While the United States’ healthcare is mostly managed by private sectors, their healthcare is predominantly run and financed by the government. Growth in science has led for an essential need for new technology. Hospitals are constantly competing and advertising new technology. Why compete for new technology? Many healthcare providers and holders of heath care plans feel that there are great legal risks involved when new technology has not been implemented. Other stakeholders that desire modern technology are the patients and the physicians. Patients now desire to use new technology because they assume that it has greater benefits than the old method. Physicians also want to tinker with the new tools that modern day society has developed. In the United States, access to health care is based on insurance coverage. You may receive the service through four major avenues. Firstly, the public may join a government healthcare program such as Medicare or Medicaid to receive benefits. Secondly, employers can provide insurance to their employees. Thirdly, an individual with the means to afford healthcare may purchase insurance on their own. Finally, people may  pay for services individually. However, there are some Americans who have chosen not to have insurance. â€Å"In 2006, forty-seven million people (58.8% of the population) were uninsured, meaning they were not covered by any program, public or private† (jblearning.com). When someone is uninsured they have a few options. One option is to pay out of pocket for the individual services that they require. The second option is to access Federal Fund Centers, and the third option is to pursue treatment for their acute illness. When a citizen seeks treatment, hospitals are required to give them care due to the implement of The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986. This law states that a few tasks must be completed regardless of the patient’s ability to pay the hospital. The patient must first be admitted to the hospital and then given a physical scan. Following the scan the individual should be given the appropriate care in order to stabilize them. Furthermore, a major characteristic of health care in the United States is the exorbitant amount of money it costs to receive health care. As a nation, we spend more than any other country in the world on providing health care to our citizens. Although we are spending a large amount of the countries deficit, we are seeing little progress in providing access to the masses. Healthcare is one of the largest contributing factors to the United States’ GDP with a cost of over 2.7 trillion dollars (Sultz, 1997, p.1). With such cost, innovations and expansions are inevitable. The new technology has undoubtedly helped advance the longevity of people’s lives, but it has also raised the cost of being able to access the treatments. People with better insurance or a greater need for the service may get an unfair advantage in receiving these services. This advantage causes a moral dilemma for the physician and the Health Care Administration (HCA) staff. Physicians and staff need to make sure that the old method is no longer as great as the new technology. This will keep costs down and allow for a greater amount of peopl e to receive the treatment that they need. The United States is based on a health care system where individuals must purchase their own insurance while still paying taxes to fund other government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. As with any health care system, issues may arise. A key issue deals with employers and employees. In many cases, employers provide a healthcare program to their workers. What if the employee is a part-time worker? In such instances, many employers do not  offer such benefits for individuals who are not on the clock full-time. As we all know, health care in the United States is the most expensive care in the world. The issues with this expense are many. While costs are already high, they are only going to continue to sky-rocket. Another issue with cost is that while Americans are spending an outrageous amount of money, they are not reaping the benefits. Millions of Americans are still unable to receive the proper health care because they are unable to afford insurance. Unlike the United States, most European countries have national health care. The United States and European countries differ substantially in the way they conduct medical care for their citizens. These health care programs provide care for all citizens, known as â₠¬Å"universal health care.† Universal healthcare is a blanket term meaning there are different sub-divisions that stem from this type of care. Germany, Canada and, Great Britain all have different types of universal healthcare. Germany is a socialized health care country. Socialized health care means that funds are contributed by employers and employees because of government mandates. The Germanic government is in overall control of all procedures. However, there are still private delivery programs that help with carrying out the health care processes in Germany. â€Å"All Germans with incomes under â‚ ¬46,300 are required to enroll in one of the sickness funds† (healthcare-economist.com). Higher income citizens may opt for private care or join a federal sickness fund. The federal government decides what benefits to add to this package. Sickness funds are provided through a pay roll tax which is taken from the employer and the employee. Less than ten percent of the population decides to use private in surance. Insurance and payments using the federal sickness fund are closely related in the socialized healthcare system. Many believe that carrying out procedures in this manner provides a more orderly healthcare in comparison to the United States. Canada uses a different form of healthcare known as the National Health Insurance System or commonly referred to as Medicare. This form of insurance â€Å"was initially established in the Medical Care Act of 1966 providing fifty-fifty cost sharing† (jblearning.com). General taxes collected by the government are what finances the healthcare system but private providers deliver the care. The government decides how the insurance plans ultimately work. Canada has ten provinces and three territories that carry out the functions of the  healthcare while the government oversees their actions. All Canadian citizens and permanent residents are eligible for health insurance in Canada. Unlike America, Canada’s system is built to facilitate people’s need for health care rather than their ability to pay for services. Medicare is intended to assist all Canadian residents so that they have reasonable access to hospitals and physicians. Canada has a multi-part insurance plan for the provinces and territories. Each has similar features and standards that come together to form Canada’s health care plan. When a resident arrives at the health care facility they simply show their health care card. Most services are covered by taxes paid to the government. However, in some cases you will need private health care because policies are slightly different when traveling from a province to a territory. Finally, Great Britain’s health care is provided through the National Healthcare Service. Like Canada, their system of health care is designed to help all the citizens receive health care. Great Britain’s system is publically funded through general taxes of the people. For a single-payer health care system, the cost of providing care is relatively low. However, there are limited options in choosing your provider as well as a long waiting list to see them. â€Å"There are 750,000 Britons on the waiting lists for hospital admission; 40% of cancer patients are never able to see an oncologist; there is explicit rationing for services such as kidney dialysis, open heart surgery and care for the terminally ill†(Healthcare-economist.com). This is why a very small percent of the citizens choose t pay for private health care which is almost the same as generic health care but with better care and quicker waiting times. This health care is almost the same as the generic insurance Great Britain provides but it has shorter waiting times and better quality care. Another feature of this system is that there are no deductibles and almost no co-pay. In summary, the United States has a very different system of health care than Germany, Canada, and Great Britain. The United States is private, whereas the other countries are mostly publicly run by the government. Every system of health care has its pitfalls. Today, politicians and the public are trying to find a way to maximize the efficiency of cost, access and quality. References: http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/04/14/health-care-around-the-world-an-introduction/http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763763802/63800_ch01_final.pdfSu ltz, H., & Young, K. (1997). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (8th ed., p. 1). Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen.

Public sector organization of India - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 15 Words: 4525 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Research paper Level High school Did you like this example? 1. Executive Summary: Public sector is purely assets that remain in state that its ownership is purely and transparently public and it is process of outsourcing. The public sector comprises that organisation which provides service to the public and for which a charge may or may not be made and funded from public expenditure and which are subject at some level to political control. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Public sector organization of India" essay for you Create order Public sector reorganising in India has been a big topic of debate for a number of years and it has come under scrutiny of expert committees for reason. Public sector undertakings are the major drivers of growth of Indian economy. Apart from financial benefits, these organizations have contributed a lot to the development of Indian society. For the analysis of management of the public sector, I have selected a leading public sector organization in oil and gas sector. This organization is a leading organization in the field of natural gas transportation and marketing in India. It also has a dominant presence in petrochemical business and one of the top three players in India. This report analysis deals with the current organizational structure of the organization, its strengths and weaknesses, global industry landscape, evaluation of industry in India, the critical issues faced by the management and managements strategy for the future. At last I am trying to explore the respo nse of the top management regarding these critical issues and trying to draw my own conclusion and recommendation on the management of that public sector organization. 2.Introduction: For the analysis of Public Sector Management, I have selected a leading public sector organization of India. This public sector undertaking (PSU) is in the oil and gas sector and is one of the leading organizations in the transportation and marketing of natural gas in India. This organization was set up by government of India to create gas sector infrastructure for sustained development of natural gas sector in India. The organization called itself as an integrated gas company and has presence in the entire value of natural gas including exploration and production, processing of natural gas, transmission, distribution and marketing. Today, the organization has reached new milestones with its strategic diversification into Petrochemicals, Telecom and Liquid Hydrocarbons besides gas infrastructure through equity and joint ventures participations. The organization has a dominant position in natural gas business in India and has 78% market share in natural gas transmission and 70% m arket share in natural gas marketing in India. It also processes the natural gas and markets the C2, C3, C4 products (Ethane, Propane, and Butane etc). Ethan is used in its own petrochemical plant. Propane, Butane and other high carbon compounds are marketed to other Indian oil companies and are used to produce LPG for domestic and industrial consumption. It is also a leading player in the Indian petrochemical sector thanks to its gas based petrochemical plant which has a capacity of 410000 TPA (Tones per annum). It has an ambitious plan to expand capacity of its petrochemical to 1.5 MMTPA in next five years by expanding the existing operation and setting up new petrochemical plants in different parts of India and abroad. Currently the organization has limited presence in power sector but planning to enter in a big way in near future considering the huge demand of electricity in India and encouraging government policies. The organization is planning to make it big in the city gas di stribution sector by supply natural gas over more than 1000 cities of India. The organization also has presence in a few international market through joint ventures and subsidiaries though the international exposure is quite limited compared to other oil and gas giants. Apart from natural gas, our chosen organization also has limited exposure in telecom domain through their 13,000 Km long optical fibre cable network. In terms of financial performance, the organization has done very well in last few years and has a turnover of Rs 237760 million in 2008-09 with a net profit of Rs 28040 million. Total number of employees in the organization is around 4000. The financial performance of the organization is given bellow. Vision of our chosen public sector undertaking is to be a leading company in the natural gas domain and beyond with global focus, customer care and create value for all the stakeholders of the company and take care of the environment. The company is trying to achiev e its vision through its mission statement which says that the organization accelerate and optimize the use of natural gas to benefit the Indian economy. 3.Organization Structure: The organization structure of our chosen organization is similar to the typical public sector undertakings. The employees can be divided into two large segments Executives and Non executives. As per the 2009 data, total number of employees in the organization is 3700. In terms of levels, in executive cadre, the organization has 9 layers (E1 to E9). Each of the employee layers, their designations and strength is mentioned in the below table. To join in the executive cadre, one needs a professional degree as bare minimum qualification. The new entrants join the organization in the level of executive trainee (E1 Level). After completing the training period which lasts for one year, they are promoted the E2 level. Most of the promotions are time bound and performance based. It implies that for getting considered for promotion to the next grade, one need to spend a minimum number of years in that level. After completing the required number of years, the selection board compromising o f board of directors selects the deserving candidates based upon the individual performance. Government plays a very important role in the higher level promotions as ministry of petroleum and natural gas of India indirectly decided the number of promotions that to be made after E5 level as the final list has to be approved by the ministry. E9 or the executive director is the highest position that one employee can reach through departmental promotion. Board level positioned are completely decided by the ministry and done by open recruitment. When there a position on the board has to be filled, an apex committee called â€Å"Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB)† invites open application from all the eligible candidates and after conducting interview with shortlisted candidates, they finalized the candidate for the board level position. The final selection has to be approved by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. In non executive level, the organization has 7 le vels (S0 to S8). After completing the S8 level, the non executive got promoted to the executive cadre. The organization is mainly executive dominant as only 1051 or the 28% of the total employee strength works in the non executive cadre. Rest 2649 or 72% of the total employees are in executive cadre. Hierarchical Levels Name of the Designations Total Number CMD Chairman Managing Director 1 DIRECTORS Functional Director 4 E9 Executive Director 13 E8 General Manager 54 E7 Deputy General Manager 97 E6 Chief Manager 202 E5 Senior Manager 375 E4 Manager 661 E3 Deputy Manager 352 E2 Senior Officer/ Senior Engineer 708 E1 Executive Trainee / Engineer/ Officer 182 S7 Junior Engineer 275 S6 Superintendent 356 S5 Assistant Grade I 53 S4 Assistant Grade II 171 S3 Attendant Grade I 140 S2 Attendant Grade II 9 S1 Attendant Grade III 16 S0 Attendant Trainee 31 Total =3700 Table 1: Organizational Hierarchy Selection is done through both open recruitment and campus interview process for both the executive and non executive cadre. 4.Educational Profile of the employees: As the organization is executive dominant that need at least one professional qualification while entering, the average education level of the organization is very high. The technical team of the organization consists of around 1100 engineers who basically look after the erection and commissioning, operation and maintenance of natural gas and LPG pipelines. They also take care of the operation and maintenance of the petrochemical plant located in the north India. Apart from engineers, the organization has over one hundred MBAs for looking after different business segments specially marketing division. Finance, one of the key ingredients of business, is entrusted with finance professionals, mostly Chartered Accountants and Cost Accountants. Professionals from Humanities are present in the human resource department and have brought about the creative and the artistic aspect of the company to the fore. 5.Management Structure of the organization: Top management of our chosen organization consists of chairman and managing director of the organization, 4 full time directors, 2 part time directors who represent the government of India in board meeting, 5 part time non official directors (independent directors). Full time directors represent the different functional areas of the organization which includes finance, human resource, projects and marketing. Its board also has position for one chief vigilance officer and one company secretary. All of the board members are highly qualified and have diverse background which helps board to bring fresh prospective while deciding the future strategy of the organization. 6.SWOT Analysis: 6.1Strength of the organization: A. Small and flexible Compared to the other public sector organization, with a few thousand employees this organization is one of the smallest public sector undertakings in India. So there is better communication between the management and employees. The average profit per employee is close to Rs 7 million. So management can take well informed decision and can take view of all the employees regarding its future strategy. B. Highly educated manpower This organization is executive dominant. So the large section of the employee base is equipped with professional qualification. Apart from basic professional degrees, many of the employee opted for higher studies thanks to the encouraging education policies of the organization. C.Government support and backing As a public sector organization, government of India in the major equity holder in this organization and has a share holding of 70%. So in many cases the organization enjoys the constant support of Indian government. 6.2 Weakness of the Organization: A.High response time As a government entity it has a bureaucratic style of functioning and this leads to higher response time. In many cases, it is not possible for the organization to make a fast move to counter the moves of its competitors. As most of its competitors are private entities, they can take faster decision regarding investment. 6.3 Opportunities: A.High demand of natural gas TheIndian energy sector is booming in last few decades thanks to the high demand emerged from the growing Indian economy and natural gas has emerged as a major source of energy. In India, coal is mainly used for the source of energy as India has huge amount of low grade coal. But slowly natural gas is emerged as another source due to low cost and its environment friendliness nature. The demand for natural gas in India is primarily driven by power and fertilizer sector. The capital cost of setting up natural gas based power plant is low compared to coal based power plant and it take less time to set up such plants due to compact nature. In fertilizer sector, the gas based plant has a high efficiency rate and the unit cost of production is much less compared to naphtha based fertilizer plant. Also government policy of issuing fresh licenses only to the fertilizer plants based on natural gas has increased the demand manifolds. B. Environmental concern Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuel available. Now the whole world is looking for green energy and alternative clean fuel. As coal not so cleaner fuel and contributed a lot to the emission of greenhouse gases, natural has had an advantage over coal as it is much cleaner as no greenhouse gases are emitted from the burning of natural gas. Natural gas gives less CO2 gas if burned in a furnace or closed chamber and also has a higher efficiency rate. As per the research, per unit of energy its combustion produces 30% less carbon dioxide than oil, and about 45% less carbon dioxide than coal (naturalgas.org, 2010).After the Copenhagen summit, we can expect stringent environment regulations in place to reduce the harmful emission and adoption of cleaner fuels. In this scenario, natural gas will be dominant source of future energy basket. C. Development of fuel cell technology Currently many researches is going on the fuel cell technology to use natural gas an input. Fuel cells are battery like devices that use hydrogen to generate electricity. This is a very clean technology as the byproduct water and no greenhouse gasses are emitted in the process. Natural gas can supply this hydrogen as it is a rich source of hydrogen. In near future, fuel cell technology can change the dynamics of the world energy scenario and natural gas will be a key driver (naturalgas.org, 2010). Our organization is tied up with many research institutes to help the development process of fuel cell technology. D.Transportation Sector Transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of air pollution in the world. Transportation vehicles like truck, busses, cars etc emits greenhouse and poisonous gases like CO, NO, NO2, CO2, SO2 etc which pollutes the surroundings and creates problems like smog and low visibility (Natural Gas Vehicle Statistics, 2010). Use of natural gas a transportation fuel cut down the level of emission. So there are initiatives to use natural gas as a major transportation fuel. Indian government is also pushing natural gas for city gas distribution which can reduce the demand for LPG and also in transportation though CNG. Delhi has the largest fleet of public transportation system in the world which runs on CNG (naturalgas.org, 2010). 6.4 Threats: A. Changing regulation in Oil and gas sector The Indian Oil and gas market is regulated one but it is slowly moving towards an unregulated one. Earlier as a government entity, the organization enjoys complete monopoly and the full freedom and support of government in natural gas sector. But in the recent development, government of India has introduced a regulator to look after the market development. To increase the completion and to break the monopoly, the regulator has changed the playing rules which effects the organization as the market is now open for private players too which bring intense completion in the natural gas sector. In end of 2006, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India has issued a new policy guideline which permitted to have up to 100% equity stakes in pipeline projects by national oil companies, foreign investors and private domestic companies. Now even the transmission tariff is decided by the regulators and new pipeline infrastructure is build after inviting open tender. Earlier, foreign p layers couldnt enter into the oil and gas sector as Indian government considered the sector as sensitive and having strategic importance. Now they can participate in different projects and can invest alone, as an equity partner or joint venture partner (Natural gas, 2009). B. No own source of gas The organization is not very strong in exploration and production areas and primly depends on the other producers to get the natural gas. For this organization, the biggest source of natural gas sourcing is another largest public sector entity of India. But the oil and natural gas fields of that entity is drying up gradually and in near future, it can create problem for our PSU to get natural gas for marketing and it will dry up the revenue. 7. Third party Issues: The organization is facing many issues with government and other public and private organization of oil and gas sector. Some of these issues are enlightened below. 7.1 Legal battle: The organization is facing many legal battles with customers and producers of the natural gas regarding the price of natural gas. The major battle is with a leading private sector organization of India regarding the price of natural gas. Our chosen public sector organization has entered in a long term contracts with the private producer to supply gas at $2.32/ MMBTU but later the private company charged $4.2/ MMBTU as per the new policy of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Now the case is under the supervision of honourable Supreme Court of India. 7.2 Disinvestment: As per their long term strategy, Indian government is planning to disinvest all the profit making public sector undertakings so that they can contribute more to the development of nations. The additional money can be use for funding other infrastructure projects undertaken by the government. 8. Strategic Issue: One of the key strategic issues that our chosen organization is facing since last few years is the sourcing of natural gas in India. The demand of natural gas is increasing in India day by day and there is a huge demand supply mismatch in India. Securing gas supply is always a problem for most of the nations and India is also facing that. There are two alternatives to bridge this natural gas demand supply gap in India Increase the domestic production of India or import natural gas from producing countries like Russia, Middle East, and Africa etc. Here I am trying to analyse both the alternatives and the response of the management to deal with this situation. 9. Global Natural gas Industry: The analysis of global natural gas industry can be done in two dimensions the supply side economics and the consumption. From supply point of view, proven natural gas reserve in world is around 185.2 trillion cubic metres (TCM) as per the BP statistical review published in 2009. Out of this, more than 75% of the total proven reserves are found in Middle East and Eurasia. In 2009, the total production of natural gas across the world was 3065.6 billion cubic metres. The world production was led by Russia Federation with estimated production of 602 billion cubic meters followed by United States with 582 billion cubic meters and Canada with 175 billion cubic meters. Among Middle East countries, Iran was the highest producer of natural gas with a production of 116 billion cubic meters. Being an efficient and clean fuel compared to other fossil fuels, demand for the natural gas is surging. The comparative comparison of natural gas with other fossil fuel is given bellow. Fixed Cost (cents/kWh) Variable Cost (cents/kWh) Total Cost (cents/kWh) Coal 4.1 3.3 7.4 Natural gas 2.8 7.8 10.6 Nuclear 8 0.8 8.8 Wind 8.2 0 8.2 Table 2: Power Generation Costs for Various Energy Sources in 2008 (Montana Environmental Information Center, 2010) Energy return on Energy Invested Coal-fired power plant 2.5 Nuclear power 4.5 Hydroelectric power 10 Wind power 35 Natural gas 10.3 Table 3: Energy Return by Source in 2008 (Suzlon FY 07-08 Annual Report, 2008) From consumption point of view, Total global consumption of natural gas in 2008 was anticipated to be 3018.7 billion cubic metres (BCM). The major consuming countries of natural gas are United Stated with a annual consumption of 657 billion cubic meters (BCM) followed by Russian Federation with 420 billion cubic meters (BCM), Iran with 117 billion cubic meters (BCM)and Canada with billion cubic meters (BCM) (BP Statistical review, 2009). If we analyse industry wise, the industrial sector consumes the highest amount of natural gas followed by power sector. As per the data released by Energy Information Administration in 2009, the industrial consumption of natural gas going to increase many folds and is expected to be around 40% of total global consumption by 2030 (EIA, 2009). 10. Natural gas Sector scenario of India: Indias total proven natural gas reserves was about 1.08 Trillion Cubic Metres (TCM). The total gas production in the country was about 31.8 Billion cubic metres (BCM) (Natural gas, 2009). Major part of the natural gas production in India comes from the western cost and the Bombay High region. Other major natural gas producing areas in the countries are Assam, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Domestic production is not enough for meeting the demand. So India imports natural gas in the form of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) from Middle East countries. From the demand side, power and fertilizer are the two most demanding sector and this two together completes almost 70% of the total natural gas consumption of India. The sector wise consumption of natural gas is given below.If we see the primary energy consumption data of India and compare it with the world average, then we can see that there is huge scope in the natural gas sector. In India, natural gas constitutes 9% of the primary energy ba sket where as 24% of the total world primary energy basket is filled by natural gas 11. Managerial Response of the organization: To counter the increasing competition and to accelerate the growth, the top management of the organization has developed a long term strategy which addressed the future need and growth of the organization in India and abroad. This strategy is also going to deal with the strategic issue of sourcing that we have mention earlier. The strategy of our chosen organization focused on the four areas. Protect Natural Gas Business Natural Gas Trading Natural Gas Transmission Upstream integration (Organic Inorganic Growth) Downstream integration (Organic Inorganic Growth) Global diversification across value chain Core strength of our chosen organization is natural gas transmission and marketing. Around 70% of the total revenue comes from this two business segment. But the competition is increasing in these two segments after the changes in the law. The latest regulation in the oil and gas sector has given the exclusive marketing right to the producer of natural gas in India. As the producer started to market their own natural gas production, the marketing share of our organization started to erode. So the first priority of the organization is to protect its prime revenue source. The management is planning to lay new gas and LPG pipelines and create a nationwide natural gas networks for distribution of natural gas efficiently. It is also looking to tie up with the producers to transport and market their gas. The second strategic decision of the organization is to go for upstream integration. Apart from organic growth, it may go for inorganic integration for securing a quick growth. For in organic growth, it is looking for merger and acquisition with similar kind of organization in both India and abroad. Right now it has a few subsidiaries and joint ventures in countries like Egypt, China and Singapore. The prime motive behind the upstream organization is to secure the source of gas for transportation and marketing. Right now the organization has 24 EP blocks in India including 3 CBM blocks and 3 EP blocks aboard. Management is looking for participate in the bidding process of more and more EP blocks to secure more natural gas. In downstream integration, the organization is looking for businesses like power, fertilizer and petrochemicals to get more revenue. Currently the organization has small presence in the power sector of India through a joint venture of Gujarat. The case is identical in fertilizer sector where it has tied up with one of the leading fertilizer company of India to produce fertilizer using natural gas as a raw material. In petrochemical business, the organization is already one of the top players with a 410 thousand tones capacity petrochemical plant. Petrochemical business contributes to 38% of the total profit of the organization. As the penetration of petrochemical products in low in India compared to world average and there is a huge demand supply gap, our organization is expecting to get a large share of its revenue and profit from this segment. Under the global diversification strategy across the value chain, the organization is looking for EP participation in aboard countries to secure more gas. It is also looking for both equity and joint venture participation aboard specially countries of Middle East and Africa to set up petrochemical plants and import the final product to India for marketing. The organization is also trying to leverage its core strength of gas transportation business and planning to develop the gas infrastructure networks in African countries like Algeria, Nigeria etc. 12. Conclusion: From the above discussion, this is evident that the public sector undertaking is facing a lot of challenges due to the dynamic nature of the oil and gas industry and the price fluctuation of the natural gas and petrochemical products. Though the long term strategy, the management of the organization is trying to address both short and long term need of the organization. In short term, the priority for the organization is to get the required amount of natural gas to bridge the gap between demand and supply so that the economic growth of the country doesnt hamper. In long term, it is vital for the organization to get secured source for natural gas. In India natural gas is very demand for traditionally being driven by power and fertilizer sector as well as with city gas distribution and industrial sector emerging as very developed and growing market for used of natural gas. The value of natural gas is exchange of hydrocarbon in the energy policy in India and pushing it to centre of the all stack holder in the value chain. 13. Recommendation: Management of the organization should look for tie ups with producers suppliers for marketing transmission of natural gas on long term and sustainable basis. This can be done in two stages. Securing more gas from new gas finds by entering strategic partnerships with the producers or enhancing the EP division by investing more. Early finalization of contracts with customers suppliers for secure revenue Management of the organization should expand pipeline infrastructure by laying new pipelines as well as upgrading existing ones to cater the need of the producer and customer. If the producer founds the pipelines in their door steps, they are bound to use them rather than laying their own pipelines. Management should roll out city gas/CNG in more cities (target 230 cities) and 5 corridors in a phased manner to increase the industrial, transportation and domestic consumption. Petrochemical business is one of the most profit generating areas for this organization and management should look for expanding the existing Petrochemical capacity and also explore green field participation in new ventures in India abroad. It can look for the For Globalization, management should focus on areas having synergy with existing businesses by entering into new and emerging gas rich countries with focus on sourcing of gas and participation in downstream activities. Examples of such businesses are power and fertilizer. Develop EP as a self-sustainable business by investing heavily and having strategic partnership with the oil and gas exploration giants to have equity or joint venture partnership It should also look for new areas of production of natural gas like shale gas and gas hydrates by having tie ups with research institutions and similar minded organizations. 14. References: BP Statistical Review 2009, Statistical Review of World Energy 2009,Available https://www.bp.com/productlanding.do?categoryId=6929contentId=7044622Last accessed 21 April 2010. Energy Information Administration. (2009). International Energy Outlook.Available: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo/index.php.(Last accessed 21 April 2010.) Natural gas and the environment. (2010). Natural Gas Org..Available: https://www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp#greenhouse/.(Last accessed 21 April 2010. ) Natural Gas. (2009). Ministry of petroleum and natural gas.Available: https://petroleum.nic.in/ng.htm.(Last accessed 21 April 2010.) First Solar Corporate Overview. 2010. First Solar.Available:https://phx.corporateir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzYzMzd8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=t=1(Last accessed 21 April 2010.) Natural Gas Vehicles statistics. (2010). International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles.Available: https://www.iangv.org/tools-resources/statistics.html(Last accessed 21 April 2010.) Montana Environmental Information Centre. (2010). Global warming.Available: https://meic.org/energy/global_warming_pollution/blm-greenhouse- gas-settlement.(Last accessed 21 April 2010.) Suzlon FY 07-08 Annual Report, Management Discussion and Analysis. p. 5.Available: https://www.suzlon.com/Publication.aspx?cp=3_1